Aquaclear Vs. Penguin

amcalab

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My Penguin 200 is so loud. I can hear the trickle from upstairs. I've adjusted the water level. Nothing seems to help.

Plus, I have been attempting to cycle my tank for two weeks (first without Bio Spira then with Bio Spira), and nothing is happening (other than a small initial drop after I first added the Bio Spira).

Since I my cycle really has yet to begin, I was considering changing to an Aquaclear. But only if it is quieter than Penguin.
 
My Penguin 200 is so loud. I can hear the trickle from upstairs. I've adjusted the water level. Nothing seems to help.

Plus, I have been attempting to cycle my tank for two weeks (first without Bio Spira then with Bio Spira), and nothing is happening (other than a small initial drop after I first added the Bio Spira).

Since I my cycle really has yet to begin, I was considering changing to an Aquaclear. But only if it is quieter than Penguin.

It may be quieter but I think from talking to other people that the penquin bio-wheel filters are much better for your tank. I've never had one though so I couldn't tell you for sure
 
We use AquaClear. Three going in our bedroom. Very quiet. Our single air pump (Whisper brand) makes a lot more noise.

Is your Penguin's "trickle" loud because the height between the filter outlet and the top of your tank's water is large? This will of couse produce a trickle. Is there room to raise the tank's water level?
 
Aquaclear I can speak for.
It's great. You can get tons and tons of nitrate killing bacteria by doing 2 sponges and 1 biomax in your filter. The stack and build concept is amazing, and it's silent unless your water levels are down lower than they should be.
 
I have an Aquaclear running in my tank as well as it is super quiet. The water level does have to be high enough but when it is I don't hear anything from it other than the faint hum during the night. Its great :D .

Gankutsuou or anyone else that uses a Aquaclear do you run yours with all 3 mediums like the sponge, carbon, and ammonia? Or is all 3 necessary like Gankutsuou says he uses two sponges just wondering what is really needed or the idea behind that is.
 
Personal preference, you dont actually need carbon unless establishing a new tank or getting rid of a treatment, so theres your extra room for another sponge. But always have carbon near so if needed you can chuck it into your filter.

Sponges and noodles and things like that are great cause they dont really need replacing just a good rinse every once and a while. (unless your using filter wool)
 
I prefer the biowheel filters over the regular filters because it has superior oxygen exchange for the bacteria. It uses the highly effective wet/dry method of filtration. I don't have a problem with the sound of water trickling in a filter.

The aquaclears are ok but the biomax media needs to be replaced every few months. I guess when those pores get clogged up it loses efficiency and falls back to a regular sponge filter.
 
Go with the AC. If bio wheels were better I'd be running a dozen of those instead of AC's. Seeing as they cost about the same, give or take a buck, it really doesn't hurt my pocket either way.

You have more flexability of media with an AC, and more space for media. Look at the filter inserts for most any bio wheel I can thing of, and compare that to the media in an AC. Even better, do what I did, take a comparable bio wheel filter, ditch the pad, & stuff the AC media in there. Extend the intake, start it up, then drain half the water out of the tank with the filter running. Sometimes they still trickle. Run it for a couple of weeks on a decently stocked tank & try it. If it's even still running it won't be. The AC will pull that off, it will run seemingly forever if you stick the bio wheel pad in there. It runs good with the AC media with a tank half empty after a couple of weeks.
 
If you buy a biowheel filter so that you could use various "filter media" then your'e missing the point of the biowheel. That's like buying a ferrari so you can use it to buy groceries. :p

Aquaclear sells ammonia removing media for their filters...I don't get it. :lol:

Like I said, Biomax media for AC filters need to be replaced every few months while the Biowheel for Penguin doesn't need replacing.
 
I've been running the biomax in AC's since they came out with it; I see no problem with it becoming nonporous. I can pull a piece from one of my filters, I'll find a really old one, hook it to a hose and a bucket, seal it up real good & see if water gravity feeds through it. My basement fishroom experiments prove more to me than any advertising gimmicks so far, which I believe the biowheel is. As far as I'm concerned, Biomax is just another ceramic media, just like Eheim, Fluval, or any other. It should last a good long time. If it were so ineffective at bio filtration, why would it be used in canister filters, which beat hob filters any day at bio filtration? It’s all the same stuff, ceramic, sintered glass, or glorified lava rock.

Trying to get a hob power filter, which excels at mechanical filtration, to do a really good job at bio filtration is wasting time. If you want good bio filtration for a good price, look into sponge filters. That is the most bang for your buck. Comparing any hob filter to a Ferrari is a joke, AC, biowheel, or otherwise. If you want Ferrari quality, get an Eheim canister.

Any ammo removing media is useless, I see no reason to run it. It’s another gimmick, like the biowheel. They all play the sales gimmick game to some extent or another; you need to play with different products to weed out the useful stuff from the fluff. Media flexibility is a good thing, how are you going to run peat in a bio-wheel filter that uses cartridges? How are you going to remove the carbon, which many people don’t run, and needs to be removed when using many medications? Some folks like to run media to remove phosphates. Where does that fit into the biowheel plan?


If you have the choice of only one filter, Aqua Clear offers the flexibility needed to cover more situations. To answer the original question, they are quieter.
 
I've been running the biomax in AC's since they came out with it; I see no problem with it becoming nonporous. I can pull a piece from one of my filters, I'll find a really old one, hook it to a hose and a bucket, seal it up real good & see if water gravity feeds through it. My basement fishroom experiments prove more to me than any advertising gimmicks so far, which I believe the biowheel is. As far as I'm concerned, Biomax is just another ceramic media, just like Eheim, Fluval, or any other. It should last a good long time. If it were so ineffective at bio filtration, why would it be used in canister filters, which beat hob filters any day at bio filtration? It’s all the same stuff, ceramic, sintered glass, or glorified lava rock.

The question isn't whether or not the biowheel or biomax works. The question is which one offers better performance and is more cost effective. The biowheel just like any other wet/dry filter offers superior oxygen for the bacteria colony there's no ifs or buts about it..it's scientific fact. Filter media like biomax that is submerged underwater can never offer the same kind of oxygen as a wet/dry system.

Fact is anything that is porous will get clogged and lose efficiency over time. So how are you going to regain that lost efficiency? Easy, buy more biomax and discard the old stuff which is exactly what the manufacturer wants you to do. Of course if you never replace the biomax, your filter will just fall back to the basic sponge filter which is inferior to any wet/dry filter. If a sponge filter was so efficient we'd all be using sponge filters instead of wet/dry filters. Sure it'll still work but that was never the point.

to get a hob power filter, which excels at mechanical filtration, to do a really good job at bio filtration is wasting time. If you want good bio filtration for a good price, look into sponge filters. That is the most bang for your buck. Comparing any hob filter to a Ferrari is a joke, AC, biowheel, or otherwise. If you want Ferrari quality, get an Eheim canister.

Comparing HOB filters to canister filters is nonsensical. HOB filters are designed for easy access and maintenance different goals. Canister filters are pretty crappy in that regard since they have to be sealed tight so that leaks don't occur. Maintenance is a major chore with canister filters. They are expensive with little tangible benefit. Look at the largest marine systems, that use...surprise...wet/dry filters.

Any ammo removing media is useless, I see no reason to run it. It’s another gimmick, like the biowheel.

How is the biowheel a gimmick? I can run a biowheel without the cartridge anyday of the week and still get superior biological filtration over any sponge filter. Can your AC beat the performance of the biowheel with just the sponge?

Media flexibility is a good thing, how are you going to run peat in a bio-wheel filter that uses cartridges?

Easy just take out the cart (its actually a tray) and put the media in that empty space. I find it funny that you haven't tried this considering your claims of testing and using the biowheel filters.

How are you going to remove the carbon, which many people don’t run, and needs to be removed when using many medications? Some folks like to run media to remove phosphates. Where does that fit into the biowheel plan?

Have you used a biowheel? Removing the carbon is a trivial task, you simply slide out the carbon cartridge/tray. You don't think the designers of the biowheel filters thought about how the carbon is removed while using medications? :lol:

http://www.marineland.com/science/biowheel.asp

Pretty straight forward explanation.
 
A very intersting discussion going. Way off topic, but very interesting. I'd like to add to the mess: both will get the job done.

Now, to make things even more interesting, this is from Proceedings of the Marine Ornamentals '99. pp. 45-52. 1999. Now of course this applies to marine only.. Here is the abstract:

Four 284 l. mini-reef aquaria were set-up with either a trickle, "BioWheel", Berlin or Jaubert style filtration system and compared for numerous water quality characteristics. After 156 days of operation there were almost no differences in the ammonia-nitrogen (<0.01 mg./l.), nitrite-nitrogen (<0.03 mg./l.), orthophosphorous (<0.05 mg./l.-P), pH, alkalinity or total inorganic carbon trends in the four systems. The two systems with dedicated biological filters, the trickle and "BioWheel" aquaria, had lower nitrate-nitrogen concentrations (<0.2 mg./l.) than the other two systems. After Day 114, nitrate-nitrogen increased to 1.0 mg./l, in the Jaubert system, with the Berlin system at about 0.3 mg./l. The total organic carbon concentration (TOC) in the Jaubert system was 3.5 mg./l, carbon, which was considerably higher than the other three systems which had TOC values of less than 1 mg/L-C. Nuisance algae growth was greatest over the term of this test in the Jaubert system. The results of this test demonstrate that claims by well-known authors that dedicated biological filters should not be used on mini-reef filtration systems because they result in high nitrate concentrations are incorrect. There was no evidence of poor coral health or other negative aspects in aquaria filtered with dedicated biological filters.
 
PaPeRo;

The amount of nitrifying bacteria depends as much on surface area for the bacteria to adhere to as how much O2 is available to those bacteria. Your standard wet/dry filters with an overflow & sump work as well as they do not just because of exposure to O2, but because of the much larger surface area from using so much media. The same holds true for canisters, fluidized bed, or a hob with bio media. Canister & fluidized bed filters probably have about the same O2 exposure as a hob with bio media; the reason they work so well is quantity of surface area. More O2 doesn’t mean a larger bacterial colony, more surface area does. You probably know that most of the O2 transfer to your water occurs through surface agitation, as long as you have the proper O2 level in your water either the biowheel or submerged bio media will have enough O2 to do what it’s designed to do. If more O2 increased the bacteria level by any significant amount, running a stream of O2 from a cylinder over your biowheel, or bio media in a wet/dry should tremendously improve performance. Aquarists run CO2 in planted tanks, why not a little straight O2 over your exposed bio media? You should see a five fold increase in performance.

Yes media gets plugged with debris. The solution? Rinse it in old tank or other dechlorinated water. Efficiency regained. Every manufacturer of every filter wants you to replace media all the time. More fluff. The only media that needs to be replaced on any regular basis is your fine floss, or carbon if you bother with it. Everything else can be rinsed until it actually is falling apart. This takes years, I have several AC sponges that are years old, the oldest is around 7. They will show wear, but still work. I have yet to see any bio media show wear. That’s cost effective. If you have to replace media that often something is wrong with the design or usage.

I think you may have misunderstand what I meant by sponge filters, perhaps I should have been more clear; air driven sponge filters, the internal kind. These will blow away any hob, biowheel or otherwise, as far as bio filtration is concerned. The reason is surface area; breeders with consistently overstocked tanks use them all the time. Racks of 10’s, 20’s and such work well with the old sponge filters, most breeders shy away from a centralized system with one large sump. Cross contamination is a concern, as well as often needing to have different water parameters from tank to tank.

Comparing a canister to a hob is easier to reason than comparing any filter to Ferraris & groceries. Once again, it’s quantity of media that makes canisters work so well, something AC’s have over the biowheel designs. I don’t know what kind of bad experiences you’ve had with canister filters, I spend less time maintaining them than hob’s, it isn’t much of a chore, they don’t have leakage problems from anything not sealing tightly, and have plenty of benefits. Quantity of media, flexibility of media, longer periods between maintenance, the ability to run a few tanks at once utilizing bridging, and they are probably the quietest filter commonly used. Large marine systems use wet/dry filters because that is the most cost effective for a system that size.

Can an AC beat a bio wheel with just a sponge? Name a couple of comparable biowheel & AC filters. I’m due for an online order, and can set up a couple of tanks, feed them ammonia, and once they are cycled see which one eats the ammonia first. I’m not going to break the bank on this one, so don’t start naming AC110’s & such. I love messing with this sort of thing. But what we can also do is once they are cycled & done with the little ammo experiment is to toss in a few ounces of cheap flake, a handful of topsoil, and other nasties, and see which one fares better. If you are going to test, test it good. Check out the mechanical aspect as well. Xoedusk has posted a nice example of someone doing something similar.

I have pulled the little tray out, and used various foam, floss, and bio media in a variety of filters, including Penguin & Marineland. They choke. Tetra is no better; the closest thing I found so far was a used Hartz/Mountain. You can get them to run with half the media of a comparable AC, they don’t continue running during 50% water changes like an AC. I wouldn’t bother trying peat in them. An AC 70 sponge fits on end in an AC 20, fills the entire media case, and the filter still runs. I constantly mess with filters & such; I have more sponge, floss, hoses and pvc in various sizes lying around than you want to think about. I don’t hesitate to build my own gear, or modify existing designs.

Yes you pull out the carbon, and you have a slim little pad that is thinner than anything I would dare even wash my dishes with. My wife & daughter have makeup pads that are thicker than that, and appear more durable. Your link is to a sales ad from Marine land’s site, sales departments in any situation will promise the moon. This link is actually a better one but raises a few questions; http://www.marineland.com/science/pdf/BIOwheel_QA.pdf

9.39 miles of fiber tells you nothing about surface area. Their independent consultant can’t be found anywhere on the internet, though there is a Bio-Tox Laboratories, who does drug testing.

Your second link is a nice examination of bio filtration that does include other parameters besides O2, and their effect on bio filtration. Problem is it’s still off of Marineland’s site, written by a Marineland employee. It might be a little biased.

If you really want to get the best of both worlds, you can modify the AC design to run a biowheel. I had a link to a site where someone modified a 110 to fit a wheel from a Penguin. A little drilling, gluing, and a biowheel with a shaft gives you the media capabilities along with the biological capabilities. You are not going to get a biowheel filter to run properly with the amount of media in a comparable AC. I’ve tried.

I don’t need or trust sales catchphrases such as “ superior oxygen/oxygen exchange†or “ highly effective wet/dry†repeated to sell me a product. If I hear good things about it, I’ll try it out, work with it a little. If it doesn’t work out, it goes away. If it does work out, I’ll try more of that product. “It’s scientific fact†with a couple of links to the manufacturers site doesn’t cut it as far as I’m concerned.

If you want to do this little filter experiment PaPeRo let me know, I’ll probably be ordering gear on Saturday. Let’s try to figure something that will run reasonably well on a 10 gallon, I have a few lying around. You really don’t know for sure unless you play with different products, this is something I really enjoy. This also gets us back to our original question: AquaClear vs. Penguin.
 

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